A Christmas Surprise
by LarielRomeniel
Summary: Leonard intended it to be a surprise for Sara. But it's hard to keep a secret with Ray Palmer around.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written for flabbergabst for the CaptainCanary Secret Santa 2016 on Tumblr. This is set in my "Lost and Found" continuity, where Laurel was resurrected and "Destiny" never happened.

* * *

"Only you would think of this, Ray!" Sara said, shaking her head and laughing.

"It's just a quick repair job," Ray answered over the comms. "Better for me to get small and fly in to do it than to take the whole darned thing apart, don't you think?"

Kendra chuckled. "Gideon, I hope you're recording this. The others won't believe it!"

"Still think we should go with candles," Mick said, grinning at the variations of "no" from his teammates.

"Okay, I just need to solder this broken connection right here…" Ray said.

Jax whistled, and Sara joined Kendra and Laurel in applauding as the Christmas tree lights came back on. But just as quickly, the lights went out with a loud _pop!_ and Ray came flying out of the greenery, knocking a few ornaments off the tree along the way. He hit the library floor and returned to his normal size.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he said as Kendra and Laurel helped him up. "I think I may have caused a power surge…"

"Well, at least none of these decorations are priceless family heirlooms," Sara said, kneeling to start picking up the fallen ornaments. One of them had been a glass elf, which had shattered on impact. But in the middle of those shards was a tiny gift bag, with a small box poking out. She frowned a little and picked it up. "Hmm, I don't remember Gideon making this…"

She pulled the box all the way out and flipped it open, just as Mick was saying, "Blondie…" and Laurel was saying, "Sara, don't…" and Kendra and Jax were reaching toward her as if to snatch the box away.

All of them let out a sigh while Sara stared, wide-eyed, at what was inside the box. Well, all of them except Ray, who was just as wide-eyed as Sara.

"Wait a minute… is that… is that an engagement ring?" he asked, his voice rising in surprise.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, Haircut," Mick rumbled.

"I think it still is," Kendra said with a giggle. "Sara?"

Sara knew her mouth was hanging open, but no sound was coming out. All she could do was stare at the ring, a blue-white diamond set in a band of silvery metal matching the rings already on her hands, trying to wrap her mind around what it meant.

 _Forever_. Len was going to ask her to spend forever… with him.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Laurel bending down to her, smiling softly. Finally, she managed to get words out. "You knew?"

She stood and looked around at her friends. Most of them were smiling too. "You all knew?"

Ray was the only one _not_ smiling. "Not all of us," he said in a somewhat miffed tone.

"That's because you can't keep a secret, Haircut," Mick said.

Kendra nodded as she stooped down to sweep up the shards of the broken ornament. "Sorry, Ray, but Leonard really wanted this to be a surprise for Sara, and you do have a habit of giving things away."

Jax huffed. "Yeah, can't watch a movie with you, dude. You always spoil it."

Ray rolled his eyes and gave a shrug of concession. "I can understand why Laurel and Mick would know. But how come you and Jax are in on it, Kendra?"

Kendra shrugged. "Ray, don't take this the wrong way, but I do have about 200 proposals under my belt. He wanted my advice."

"And you think diamonds like that grow on trees?" Jax said. "Snart was going crazy trying to find one in just that color. Finally Gray suggested that we try to transmute something, and, well… it worked!"

Sara shook her head. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Say yes when he asks you," Mick suggested with a grin.

"But don't let on that you know already!" Laurel said. "He's been planning this for weeks now, and he'll be disappointed if you don't act surprised."

"He's worked harder on this than any of our heists," Mick added. "Wants it all perfect."

Sara smiled. "So that's why he went along with Rip and Martin on their little shopping trip?"

Laurel nodded. "I think he wanted to pick their brains too, as the two married men on board."

"I was an almost-married man," Ray grumbled.

"This isn't horseshoes, man," Jax said as Kendra patted Ray's shoulder.

"Captain Hunter, Mr. Snart and Dr. Stein are approaching the Waverider," Gideon announced.

"We've got to put that back," Laurel said.

Sara nodded, closing the box and slipping it back into the tiny bag. "Uh, Mick… do you know where it was?"

"Hmm… not sure," Mick said, brow furrowed in thought.

"Do you really think he'll notice if it's put in a different place?" Jax asked.

"He'll notice!" Mick, Sara and Laurel all chorused.

"I took a picture with my suit's helmet camera before going in. I know where it goes," Ray said, holding his hand out to Sara. She handed him the bag, and he hung it back where it had been before. "Now, let me try fixing those lights one more time…"

* * *

All through the evening, Len kept looking over at the (now lit) tree, as if making sure his precious little bag hadn't vanished. Sara kept trying _not_ to look in that direction, sure that if she did, she'd burst with the feelings that had been building up inside from the moment she saw the ring.

She also found she was having trouble looking at her teammates. Especially at Mick, who kept smirking at her when Len wasn't looking. So she tried to focus on other things: the menorah Stein had lit as part of the evening's celebration, and the delicacies the three men had brought back from their shopping trip, including the most decadent chocolate cake Sara had ever tasted.

The chime of a finger tapping against a glass cut through the chatter around the room. Rip stood, holding a flute of the very fine champagne Len had selected.

"I'm sorry the timeline wouldn't let me bring you all home for this holiday," he began. "Nearly a year ago I brought you... most of you… together on a rooftop in Central City to help me save my family. In that time, we have suffered defeat and loss. We've also known victory, tremendous joy… and one absolute miracle."

He inclined his head toward Laurel, and Sara reached out to give her sister's hand a squeeze as Rip went on, "I believe we will defeat Savage, together, because you are the finest team I have ever known, the best friends a man could ever ask for… and the family I never expected to have again."

He held his glass up in a salute to them all.

"You're gonna get me all misty-eyed," Mick grumbled. "I hate gettin' misty-eyed."

Len chuckled. "Well then, my old friend, please forgive me."

"For what?" Mick asked, with an expression that was more expectant than curious.

Laurel had told her to act surprised, but Sara didn't have to act as Leonard rose, pulling her up with him. She knew what was coming, but hadn't thought he'd do this in front of the entire team.

Then again, she hadn't thought they'd have their first kiss in front of the whole team either, let alone have it in front of the Pit in Nanda Parbat.

She should have known by now that unexpected was just par for the course.

He led her over to the tree and wrapped his hands around both of hers, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath before speaking. "Sara, I came aboard this boat with a pretty simple agenda: to steal through time. Maybe kick some ass along the way too. But like I said, simple.

"It got complicated that first trip to St. Roch. Remember? You asked me to dance…"

She smiled. "You said no."

"I said I'd watch," he corrected with a smirk. "And you put on one hell of a show. But what really got me was later in the cargo bay, when you talked about us having the power to change our fate."

"For better or for worse, you said."

He nodded. "It wasn't just what you said, but the way you said it… the light in your eyes. It made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I could be something more than… how did Raymond put it? A no-good criminal?"

"I think it was good-for-nothing criminal," Ray interjected. He let out an _oof_ when Kendra elbowed him in the ribs.

"Thanks, Raymond," Leonard said dryly, with a roll of his eyes. He focused back on Sara. "Sara, even with all my baggage and my bullshit, you saw something worth loving in this 'good-for-nothing' criminal."

He reached up to gently remove the little bag from its branch and held it out to her like an offering. Her hands trembled as she took it and slid the little box out. He gently cradled her hands in his again to steady them. Then, as she opened the box, he sank down to one knee, making her gasp a little in surprise.

"Sara, you once told me it didn't matter where I came from, only where I was going," he said in a soft voice that matched the soft, vulnerable look in his eyes. "I don't want to go anywhere without you."

Now his hands were trembling too as he gazed up at her, and she felt her own eyes filling with tears as she looked back at him, once again stunned into a silence that started to stretch out…

Until Mick broke it. "When you pop the question, aren't you actually supposed to, I dunno, ask a _question_?"

"That _is_ the usual procedure," Stein agreed.

"You looking for usual with these two?" Jax chortled.

"Does an implied question count?" Ray wondered.

"No!" Kendra and Laurel chorused.

Sara and Len were both trembling now, but with a very different emotion. Len chuckled. "You know, I was originally going to do this when we were alone, but someone thought you'd like to have our family around for this." He threw a mock-glare Laurel's way, then smiled and drew one of Sara's hands to his lips for a kiss. "Sara Lance, will you marry me?"

She smiled broadly, nodding and (thankfully) finding her voice to say, _"Yes!"_

The next moments were a bit of a blur; she was in his arms and his lips were on hers as their friends applauded (and whistled… that had to be Mick) and then the ring was on her finger and their friends surrounded them...

 _Forever_. She and Len were going to give each other forever.

But the way she felt right now, even forever wouldn't be long enough.


End file.
